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Summer in the Sea

It is now mid-July and we have finally succumbed to the fact that the summer temperatures in the Sea of Cortez are nearly unbearable. When we do projects or walk to town we look as if we are melting, with red faces, sweat dripping into our eyes and off our noses. We have refillable quart size water bottles that we keep in the refrigerator, and we each drink 5 or 6 of them a day, only to sweat it all back out.

Though to be fair, we have been told by the Mexicans we’ve talked to that the humidity right now is unusually high and we’re happy to note that they are complaining about the heat, too! There have been big thunder bumper storm clouds around for the past week, and we had a heavy downpour and lightning show the other night that actually cooled things off for a bit, but as soon as the sun came out again and heated up all that moisture…whoosh! Get out the sweat rags!

We came into San Carlos a few days ago to refuel and re-provision, planning to head back out to the nearby anchorages for a couple more weeks before leaving on our land excursions. Since then we’ve changed our plans a bit and have decided to stay put, for a number of reasons; 1) the cost of the moorage is substantially cheaper if we stay long-term ($292/week versus $521/month), 2) the boat project list is getting long and we hope to get some things checked off this month, 3) it’s HOT and Home Depot sells air conditioners.

Tetas de Cabra (Goat teats) entrance to San Carlos

Evening storm passing the marina

Our neighborly osprey

Fans and pressure cookers – the only way to cook!

AC in the salon

Pretty new door decor

Happy Dance at the dock

Not too pretty, but it works!

The irony of all this is that we came to the Sea to be warm, but we choose to follow the mantra of all things in moderation, and the summer heat in the Sea is definitely not moderate! While I hate to admit it, feeling as if we have surrendered to the elements; we have now become dock rats for the next month or two. We have an air conditioner blowing wonderful dry, cool air into Happy Dance. We have a larger fan blowing the dry, cool air onto our hot, red, sweaty faces. We have shiny, silver windshield liners cut to fit in all the hatches and ports to keep the sun out. The cabin temperatures have dropped from 96 or so, to a lovely, livable, cool, dry 84. And best of all, we can finally sleep.

We plan to be here in San Carlos until late September when we get back from a side trip to the Copper Canyon via the El Chepe train, and then a larger excursion to Scotland. San Carlos has the added benefit of being a great hurricane hidey-hole, so we’ll feel okay about leaving the boat here while we’re off on our land adventures.

And now, lest you think I’d forgotten promises of photos to be added to all those posts made via SSB radio this past month, you can stop worrying! Here are a few highlights of the places we’ve been since leaving Santa Rosalia. Enjoy!

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6 thoughts on “Summer in the Sea”

Great pictures! I guess HOT can even temporarily change your idea of paradise. I love the pics of your boat alone in those beautiful blue coves. Looks like heaven…….and Scotland is one of my dream vacations! Bagpipes forever!! Where will you be going?
Keep the updates coming. They’re like reading the next chapter in a good book you never want to end.
Sail on friends.
Corinne XOX

Hi Corinne! Thanks for the nice comments and for taking the time to follow along on our adventures – we appreciate it!! We are super excited about Scotland and will be adding yet more selfies to the files..ha! We’ll be starting in Edinburgh, then driving all over the place for a couple weeks…should be fun, and cool…wonder where that jacket is…ha!
Hugs, Sue and Marty

Wow! We don’t blame you a bit in regards to handling the heat – we’ve been in Sun Valley for the last week and almost melted the first 5 days over here. Clouds floated in for a bit the last couple days so now temps are only in the high 80’s.
So…. what the heck are those fish? The big yellow ones with the pointy tails and the one wrapped in kelp with the big eye???? Did you eat that? Great pics – can’t believe you are already in San Carlos and its been almost 7 weeks since we’ve been down there. Looks like you two are still having some fabulous adventures, in spite of the heat. Hope all goes well with your remaining days in San Carlos as well as the trip to Scotland! Hugs, J&D

Hi Deb!! Glad to hear you had a great trip to Alaska, and that you’re enjoying SV! The fish that we caught are the dorado…like John saw jumping that day. The other one with the big eye is a humboldt squid..no kelp, that’s all squid and no we didn’t eat it cuz it was washed ashore, but they are good eating if you catch them. The ones we’ve been seeing are about 2 feet long, but I read they can grow to be 6 feet or something ridiculous!! And yes, our great adventures continue!!! Even with the heat, we are loving it.
Hugs to you and John,
Sue and Marty